PARIS: Aztecs' win is too close for comfort

Winning never gets dated. But it was that kind of a tussleThursday, with the Aztecs men's basketball team eliminatingColorado State 72-71 in the Mountain West Conference tournament'sopening round.

SDSU absolutely, positively had to prevail to keep its NCAA
tournament chances alive. But after the Aztecs had seemingly putthe game away countless times, guard D.J. Gay toed the free throwline facing a one-point deficit with 23 seconds remaining.

Not far from Gay, a fan was giddy to prick the Aztecs' skin,chanting "NIT, NIT, NIT." But Gay sank both attempts and thenwatched the Rams' Dorian Green throw away a pass to ice SDSU's win-– sort of. Chase Tapley missed a free throw with five secondsleft, but Colorado State(16-15) was unable to launch a shot beforethe horn sounded for the Aztecs (23-8).

A peek at SDSU's players revealed expressions of relief, not
joy. One saw signs of escaping instead of enjoying the verdict --
of knowing that they sneaked away with a triumph and now, be
careful what you wish for.

Everyone wants their name on a Las Vegas marquee, and the Thomas& Mack Center's shows SDSU vs. New Mexico at 6 on Friday night.Yep, those Lobos, the nation's No. 8 team and the class of theMountain West, which sports a school-record 29 victories againstthree defeats.

"This is a game that we've been asking for, been looking forward
to,'' Gay said. "We're excited.''

But the rubber game of the SDSU-New Mexico series was nearly
derailed by the upstart Rams. Not only did Colorado State give the
Aztecs all they wanted, it did so for the most part without its top
player, Andy Ogide. The Rams' leading scorer and rebounder was
banished to the locker room, ejected for throwing an elbow at Brian
Carlwell with six minutes left in the first half.

With Ogide, a second-team All-MWC selection, gone and the Aztecs
claiming a 10-point edge a minute into the second half, what could
go wrong? Plenty.

The Rams' triangle-and-two and 2-2-1 zone defense slowed down
SDSU's thoroughbreds. And instead of being demoralized by losing
Ogide, the fifth-seeded Rams were energized. They took advantage of
the Aztecs looking ahead to New Mexico by nearly slipping past the
No. 4 seed.

"We all felt like our intensity wasn't there in the beginning of
the second half,'' said Malcolm Thomas, who shared team-high
scoring honors at 15 with Tapley. "As a team, we talked about
it.''

Thomas put his sneakers where his mouth was. Penetrating the
lane and forcing the defense to collapse, Thomas had 11 points, an
assist, two blocks and four rebounds over the final 20 minutes.

"I felt like I could go to the basket and help my team,'' Thomas
said. "So that's what I did.''

While Thomas carried the Aztecs in the second half, it was
Tapley's show early. He scored all of his points in the first half,
before his broken left hand started to bark.

But despite Tapley's pain and fantastic freshman Kawhi Leonard(12 points, six rebounds) having a so-so game, the Aztecs werepoised to shift the transmission into neutral and cruise to a win.Instead, in a city where good fortune is sought at every corner andcasino, it arrived for SDSU.

Fisher knew it and relayed as much to Rams coach Tim Miles in
their postgame chat.

"I told him, 'We got lucky; your team deserved to win,' " Fisher
said. "I've been in this game long enough to know that things
happen.''

What happened is that mere days before folks scurry for
four-leaf clovers, the Aztecs were blessed to advance. Now they'll
either ride an upset Friday toward a certain NCAA tournament berth
or face the prospect of settling for the NIT.

"We didn't come out here for one day,'' Gay said.

Some day, the Aztecs will breeze in the desert. Thursday wasn't
that day.

Not with the Rams flipping a 10-point deficit into a four-point
cushion in a seven-minute, second-half spurt. But the Aztecs rode
Thomas from there, and the result is a showdown with the Lobos.
Might SDSU be gassed after putting the pedal to the metal against
the plucky Rams?

"Our kids are 18, 19, 20 years old,'' Fisher said. "They'll be
ready to play. They could go out and play New Mexico right now and
probably play effectively. I'm not worried at all about that.''

Instead, Fisher frets over Tapley's throbbing hand, Leonard
looking mediocre in his MWC tournament debut, and his team's 53
percent free-throw showing in the second half.

Oh yeah, the Lobos as well –- even if the Aztecs have
administered one-third of their losses.

"We want to be playing on Saturday,'' Fisher said. "To do that,
we got to win (today). We know we're playing a great team in New
Mexico.''

The Aztecs were far from great Thursday. They need to be better
than good on Friday.

Or what's really getting old -– not making the NCAA tournament
-– will be new again.